Adventures of the Toad Brigade
by ShadowJojo
Summary: This is the story of what the Toad Brigade gets up to in Super Mario Galaxy. How do they get from A-to-B? This story attempts to fill in the gaps. It remains as close to the original as possible, so certain dialogues and scenarios will be familiar.
1. The Star Festival

Prologue

Every one-hundred years, a comet appears in the skies above the Mushroom Kingdom. The comet was so large one year, it filled the skies and sent countless shooting stars raining down. The Toads brought the shooting stars to the castle, where they became a great Power Star. It should have been a very happy time for the citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom.

That was the night of the Star Festival, held once every one-hundred years to celebrate the comet.

* * *

Chapter 1

The Star Festival.

It was a beautiful warm summer's evening. The sky was clear with no clouds in sight, leaving the small town beneath covered with a blanket of bright stars. The air was filled with various noises, from the happy chirping of the resident Toads, to the twinkling sound of Star Bits falling from the sky onto whatever they landed on.

The Star Festival was in full swing.

Toad Town played host to the Star Festival and was full of life as Toads were merrily celebrating and collecting all the Star Bits they could find. Along a short path leading away from the town stood the castle of Princess Peach, heir to the throne of the Mushroom Kingdom. The princess was standing with two Royal Guard Toads on a balcony high upon the castle, overlooking the festival. She held in her hands a small star-shaped creature which flew down from the comet earlier that day - she didn't know what this creature was, but it seemed to mean her no harm. Whenever there was a celebration of any kind, the ground floor of the castle would be prepared for guests who wished to visit. It was no different this evening, as there was a grand buffet prepared for the castle's guests.

The gates on the other side of the town swung open to allow entry for its latest guest. It was a short, portly man wearing a pair of red dungarees and matching cap... it was Mario. Princess Peach had especially invited him to be her guest of honour. Mario's brother, Luigi, had already arrived at the festival, and had joined several Toads at the castle buffet, where there was a generous selection of succulent Italian food on offer (something that Mario was looking forward to as well).

As Mario headed for the castle, he was greeted by many resident Toads, most of them showing off their Star Bits.

"Isn't this Star Bit the shiniest you've ever seen?" one particular Toad was overheard saying.

Mario raced towards the castle. He was always pleased to see the princess, more-often-than-not whenever he'd freed her from the evil clutches of his enemy, King Koopa.

As he approached the town, he felt a change in the air. Looking up at the sky, he suddenly saw a fleet of airships swooping towards them. Almost as fast as he saw them, they fired their cannons indiscriminately. He knew what was happening; the evil had returned to disrupt the peace. He knew that King Koopa was about to make another attempt to kidnap the princess. At that point, an airship approached the balcony that the princess was on. A giant, fearsome, turtle-like creature walked casually towards the front of the ship and addressed her.

"Princess Peach!" growled Koopa. "You are formally invited to the creation of my new galaxy!"

Peach stared in disbelief and horror at Koopa; this once-in-a-lifetime festival had just been ruined by that evil turtle! She was also secretly annoyed at the cowardly Toad guard hiding behind her, not that she expected much of them, as their nature didn't make them the best of guards in these situations.

"Gwahahaha!" Koopa's laugh echoed throughout the castle grounds and the small town. "This festival's over!"

Through a window on the ground floor, Luigi watched as the events outside unfolded. He was joined by a group of four other Toads, showing the same cowardice as the Royal Guard on the balcony. Luigi wondered if his brother would be able to reach the castle in time, then they both would take on the might of Koopa and bring an end to this invasion.

Mario ran to the castle as fast as he could, avoiding the cannonfire that was either destroying the town or freezing the Toads in a solid case of crystal. He tried to help the frozen Toads, but he couldn't break the crystals.

"Help! My buddy's trapped in that crystal thing!"

"It's Koopa!"

"St-st-stay calm, everyone!" yelled a Toad, furiously running in circles

There was never anything worse than a panicking Toad.

Mario had crossed the bridge leading to the castle grounds. He could see Peach on the balcony.

"HELP ME!" she screamed.

As Luigi pondered over his and Mario's impending victory, he felt a strong rumble in the floor. Looking out of the window, he saw four airships firing giant chains into the ground near the castle. Mario, on the other hand, was standing on the bridge to the castle entrance and had already witnessed a strange flying saucer firing three lasers in a large circle around the castle. The airships tugged at the chains with all the might they had and slowly pulled out a section of earth with the castle atop.

Koopa had been successful in bringing the Star Festival to an abrupt halt, and had claimed his prize in the form of the princess and her home.

The airships pulling the castle had left the planet's atmosphere and were now hovering in Space.

"Mario!" Peach called out, completely forgetting that Luigi was still inside the castle.

Mario looked up at the balcony, exhausted from dashing to the princess as fast as his little legs could allow. As he regained his breath and was about to ascend to the princess, Kamek, a Koopa Troopa wizard (or a Magikoopa), hurled himself into view and prevented the plumber's access to the princess by blocking the way.

"So long!" laughed Kamek, waving his magic wand. "Enjoy your flight!"

Kamek's wand charged with a brilliant red light, and with all the gusto he could manage, fired a magic ball towards Mario. It destroyed the remaining section of the bridge that Mario was standing on, sending him flying away from the castle.

Luigi looked on, frozen in terror (much like the Toads, Luigi was never too good in a dangerous situation, but he always had it in him that he could be as brave as his brother), he knew that it wasn't going be too long before Koopa's army would enter the castle and seize them all. He had to do something, but what? What would Mario do? As he thought about the next move, a Toad fell from the ceiling in the main hall, where the buffet was being held.

"Hey, guys!" he shrieked, excitedly. "Look what I've found!"

In the Toad's hand was a Power Star.

"Where did you find this star?" Luigi asked. He knew that there were Power Stars in the castle, but they were few and far between and not too easy to get hold of.

"I was just looking at a painting of the princess in one of those rooms." the Toad began to explain. "I wanted to get a closer look at it and I suddenly fell in! Next thing I know, I'm at the top of this slide thing. So I go down it, and I can tell you, I had some close calls, I nearly fell off twice. Anyway, when I reached the bottom, there was a ? box, so I hit it and this Power Star came out. Before I know it, I'm back in the Great Hall!"

Evidently, Koopa's previous spell on the castle's paintings was still in effect. He had created worlds in the paintings and hid Power Stars in these worlds so that Mario couldn't get them and rescue the princess. It didn't work; Mario had reclaimed the stars for the castle and rescued Peach. Inside a portrait of her was a slide which was home to one of the secret Power Stars that was hidden from Koopa

"Maybe we can use it to get out of here." Luigi hoped, knowing full well that it wouldn't work, as the star had just transported that daft mushroom man from the castle's secret slide to the hall.

"We can try." another Toad said. "Anywhere's got to be better than here. Even if we don't know where the star will take us."

They all huddled together and grasped the star. It shone a bright light, nearly blinding its gropers. As the light grew denser and brighter, the party could feel themselves getting lighter - almost as if they were losing a lot of weight. When the light vanished, so had Luigi and the five Toads.


	2. Gateway Galaxy

Chapter 2

Gateway Galaxy

Mario had been unconscious for some time before the star-creature finally found him. After Kamek had attacked Mario, Peach had the creature follow him and help. It tapped him rather hard on the head in the hope of waking him up. It seemed to work, as Mario opened his eyes. He found himself on a very small planet. The star-creature was so happy that Mario was still alive that it danced around him several times, before randomly turning into a rabbit!

"Finally, you're awake!" said the rabbit-that-was-just-a-star-creature-a-second-ago. "Let's play."

"Play?!" Mario thought to himself. "I've just-a been through a disasterous situation; the Star Festival has-a been-a ruined, the princess is-a gone-a, my brother he has-a disappeared, and you want to play?!"

What Mario showed on the outside, however, was completely different. To the rabbit's eyes, Mario was more than willing to play (or maybe that's just what the rabbit wanted to see, regardless). As the rabbit hopped away, Mario felt he had no choice but to follow. After taking the rabbits lead for a couple of minutes, he was faced with two more rabbits.

"Let's play hide-and-seek!" suggested the first rabbit, at which point all three rabbits vanished in a puff of cloud each.

Hide-and-seek? Mario couldn't believe what he was hearing; he was being invited to play a childish game with three strange bunnies. Still, he figured that they must know what they were doing, so he set off to search for them. The first he found almost instantly, hiding in a nearby crater. The second took a bit more effort, but Mario had uncovered its whereabouts: in a pipe. It wasn't until Mario had searched the entire planet that he found the third rabbit, and that was by luck... he saw some strange twinkling in a nearby patch of grass. As he caught each rabbit, they turned back into the star-creatures.

"Wow! You caught all of us?" one of the creatures was surprised. "Maybe you really can help Mama."

At that point, a cylindrical structure magically appeared nearby. Surrounding it was a set of steps. Encouraged by the creatures, Mario climbed the steps to the top, whereupon he came face-to-face with a beautiful woman who bore an uncanny resemblance to Princess Peach. The only real difference was the light-blue dress and the fair hair covering her right eye. This must have been the 'Mama' the creatures spoke of.

"I've been watching you from here." She said. "This place is called the 'Gateway to the Starry Sky'. My name is Rosalina and I watch over and protect the cosmos. To save your special one, you'll need the power to travel through space."

Rosalina raised the wand that was in her hand and conjured up another one of the star-creatures.

"Luma can give you this power. I will entrust you with his care."

Lumas. So that's what they're called.

The Luma that was cast by Rosalina flew above Mario's head and headed straight into his body. Mario felt a surge all over himself as the Luma gave him his power. The only thing Mario wanted to do now was spin like a top.

"Disaster has struck us, just like it has visited you." Rosalina continued. "With Luma, I hope you can rescue the Grand Stars. May the stars shine down on you."

With that last comment, Rosalina faded from view. It was time, Mario thought...

... time to rescue the Princess!


	3. Good Egg Galaxy Part I

Chapter 3

Good Egg Galaxy

Meanwhile on another planet in another galaxy far away from the one Mario was in, a bright ball of dense light materialised from out of nowhere. It grew to a modest size before two Toads emerged from it... then it disappeared without a trace.

"Wha-! Where are we?!" asked one of the Toads, looking around in confusion.

"I don't know." came the reply.

The Toads - one with pink dots; the other with green - inspected their surroundings whilst trying to gather their bearings. They guessed correctly that they were no longer in Peach's castle, at the Star Festival or, indeed, the Mushroom Kingdom. It occurred to them that they were on a tiny planet far away from the ones they loved (in fact, Pink Toad was pretty adamant about this). They were standing in a garden whilst in front of them was a small house, but it looked like it hadn't been occupied for a while, so they decided that it was best not to investigate. Something else had also occurred to them.

"Where's everyone else?"

Green Toad suddenly realised that they were the only two beings here. "Where are the other Toads? Where's Luigi?"

All six of them had grasped the Power Star and used its ability to transport out of the castle. After that, where they went to would be anybody's guess, but it wouldn't be as if the star would take them to anywhere that was dangerous.

Both continued to survey their new, albeit strange, surroundings. All around them they could see tiny planets; each being a peculiar shape than the usual sphere. To their left were two "planets": one looking more like a platform, the other didn't even look like it was finished, as it was just hollow. In front, they could see another two: one shaped like an egg with green spots, and the second was shaped like a capsule. And to their right was a lonesome planet bearng a similarity to the main body of a spinning-top. However, next to this 'spinning top' was a black hole, and it looked a little too close for the Toads' liking.

"Arrrgggh!" Pink started to panic "Itsablackholeitsablackholewhatarewegonnadowhatarewegonnado?!"

Green gave Pink a hard slap across his face, "Calm down, will ya!"

Something even more horrifying had just caught Green's attention. Just above the black hole, he made out the shape of two ships, and from the look of it, not any ordinary ships but Koopa's airships. Just then, something small came flying out of one of the airships and it appeared to be heading their way. The Toads decided that they couldn't hang around any longer and made way for the house. The front door was booted open with all the force the mushroom men gave it. They ran inside and locked the door shut.

"What was that?!" Pink asked.

"I don't know, but it didn't look like those horrible crystal cannonballs."

The haunting vision of the attack on the Star Festival was still fresh in their minds. They couldn't believe that all this had happened, but at the same time they also weren't surprised that Koopa chose this time for his latest invasion; he was always spoiling special events.

Green looked out of the house's only window to see if the object had gone. His body froze; staring back at him was a turtle wearing a pair of glasses and a blue wizard's robe...

...he was face-to-face with Kamek!

"What's wrong?" Pink asked, becoming aware that Green was rooted to the spot.

Green was still in shock from what he'd seen and could only manage a "K-k-ka-ka..."

Pink joined him at the window and was also confronted with the evil glare of the Magikoopa.

"KAMEK!" he yelled.

"Ha ha ha ha ha!" Kamek wailed, manically. "It seems that we didn't quite get everyone. Nevermind, I can dispose of you two in no time."

With that in mind, Kamek raised his wand and fired a mighty red fireball towards the house. It blew the door open, leaving the cowering Toads at his mercy. He fired another fireball towards the Toads, but missed them by mere feet. They used this chance to escape. Pink and Green ran underneath Kamek, who was hovering a good distance off the ground, and out into the garden. Koopa's army had already started to invade this galaxy, as wobbling around the flower patches were some unusual creatures. The Toads ran away from the house as fast as they could, all the while being chased by Kamek and his fireballs. They ended up on the underside of the planet - they had ran along a pathway which led them to a darker part. Now they were going to have trouble seeing where they were going.

"Quick, use this!" a voice came out of nowhere. The Toads looked around to see a bright, star-shaped creature beckoning them.

"Use what?" came a baffled Pink

"This! Just jump into it!"

The Luma span around and with a "TRANSFOOOOORM!", suddenly exploded into a strange floating star. Both Toads jumped into it and found themselves being whisked away through space.

They landed on another planet nearby. This was even smaller than the previous one and had another adjacent to it. They were made up mainly of grass and sand. In front of the Toads was a palm tree. Pink leaned against the tree and took a breather; they doubted Kamek would find them here. Green had a look around the new planet and came across a plant that looked like it's head was made up of nasty-looking spikes. He didn't dare go near it, but instead, chose to throw at it one of the coconuts that were scattered about the planet. The plant reacted to the impact of the coconut and shrivelled into the ground. Where it used to be, a small floating star appeared, similar to the other one they used to get here.

It was just as well that Green had done that, as Pink's rest was about to come to an abrupt end by the insane laugh of Kamek.

"Hahahahaha!" the mad wizard cackled, "Going somewhere?"

Kamek pointed his wand towards Pink and promptly fired at him. Despite the Toad's best efforts to run away, the fireball hit him dead-on and he was frozen in a block of crystal.

"One down, one to go!"

The magikoopa turned his attention to the other runaway Toad, who was heading for the star that was uncovered from the spike-plant. Green didn't hesistate in using the star to escape, but was dismayed when it only sent him to the adjacent planet. Rather than lose hope at this pont, he frantically searched the planet for a way off, and suddenly found himself sharing the same space as a Pokey - a creature made up of four spiked 'balls' (including its head) stacked one on top of the other. Without thinking, Green picked up the nearest coconut and launched it at the Pokey, smashing it to pieces. Just as he hoped, a floating star appeared, much bigger than the previous one.

Green sailed through Space as he was catapulted from the star. He passed a planet that looked like it was being armed with cannons.

"Wonderful!" He thought, "Now the Bullet Bills are arriving!"

Because he was concentrating on the passing planet, Green wasn't watching where he was actually going, and was shocked when he found himself landing on one of the Koopa airships he'd spotted earlier.

"Oh, no! This is all I need!"

"It certainly is." Came a voice behind him.

Green turned around and saw Kamek's face; the wizard had used the star as well. As quickly as he could, the Toad ran further along the ship, but ended up boxing himself in a corner. He turned to face Kamek again and, pressed aginst the corner, was still with fear as the magikoopa approached him and fired.

It was the last thing he saw.


	4. Good Egg Galaxy Part II

Chapter 4

Good Egg Galaxy - Part 2

Mario had already collected two Power Stars from this galaxy, and was on his way to accquiring the third. Much like the Toads, Mario had also visited the small house. This time, he was going to use the floating star that was now on the house's rooftop. He tore through Space like a missile until he landed on another planet.

"What have-a we here?" He said to himself.

In front of Mario was a solid block of crystal. He couldn't quite see into it, but he was quite sure he could make out the shape of a mushroom. With the power of the Luma inside him, Mario took a mighty spin to the crystal, and within a second, it cracked and shattered, revealing its prisoner... a pink-dotted Toad.

"Woooooo! You saved me! Thanks, Mario!" came the ecstatic Pink. "In return, let me tell you a secret about this place. Apparently those spiky things just HATE coconuts! Smack them with coconuts and send them flying."

With that in mind, Mario picked up a coconut and hurled it at the nearest "spiky thing". It disintergrated into a leafy mess exposing another floating star.

"Now that's living!" Pink said.

Mario made way for the floating star. Pink was about to follow when he suddenly found that a bright white light was slowly enveloping him, and before the Toad could say anything, he disappeared. Mario had only just caught the last second. He hoped the Toad was taken to safety.

Using the floating star, Mario visited the next planet. Feeling the pain from the last attack, the now bad-tempered Pokey made itself known and intended to get revenge, regardless of who it took it out on. Mario had already dealt with Pokeys in the past, so this one was not going to be difficult. Coconut plus Pokey equals minus Pokey. The subsequently exposed star sent Mario hurtling through Space, but, unlike with the Toads, it sent him to the planet that was now armed to the teeth with cannons.

"Ohh, mamma-mia!" The plumber exclaimed.

The very instant he landed on the planet, the cannons fired Bullet Bills at him. Bullet Bills - overly-large bullets with eyes and arms - normally just flew in a straight line, but these ones seemed to be homing in Mario. This wasn't good. Mario ducked, dived, weaved and leaped out of the way of the cannonfire to reach the top of the turret, whereupon he found yet another floating star.

"It's-a my lucky day. Woo-hoo!"

As Mario soared through Space, he began to comtemplate his last remark. Perhaps it would be his lucky day if he wasn't heading for one of Koopa's airships, but if it helped him get one step closer to rescuing Peach...

Landing on one of the airships, Mario began to survey his surroundings before advancing any further. He knew that he was on Koopa's territory now, so anything was possible. Looking to his right, he spotted another block of crystal, similar to the one on the small sand planet. Guessing that there may be a prisoner inside, Mario hurried over to the corner and delivered a powerful spin to the crystal. Like the last one, it cracked and shattered, and its captive was freed.

"Yay, Mario!" cried the green-dotted Toad. "Listen, your attacks won't reach those mean-looking aliens..."

Mario looked to see two octopus-like creatures spitting a combination of fireballs and coconuts at them from the other airship.

"... but here's a great idea! What if you tried to bounce something back at them?"

The two creatures fired a coconut each, and they were both headed towards Mario.

"Ah, what-a luck." he boasted. "I can kill-a two birds with-a one coconut, eh!"

As soon as the coconuts reached Mario, he spun violently and sent them back to the creatures, knocking them out in the process.

"Nice work!" called out Green. "But you gotta keep going!"

Before Mario crossed the bridge that had now been lowered inbetween the two ships, he stood and stared at the Toad. Just as he'd expected, a bright light was starting to cover Green, and within seconds, he vanished.

Mario continued his journey. He had a feeling he'd see those Toads again.


	5. Honeyhive Galaxy

Chapter 5

Honeyhive Galaxy

It was a beautiful sunny day for the residents of the Honeyhive Kingdom. It was also a reasonably quiet day, so throughout the land all you could hear were the crickets. The residents - honey-bees and bumble-bees, naturally - were going about their normal duties when they saw a bright light emerge from out of nowhere. Most of them gathered around the light, but didn't get to close to it. It mantained a dense, ball shape for a good thirty seconds before several creatures with large heads were ejected from it. After that, the light dissipated, leaving the creatures lying on the grass.

'Welcome to the Honeyhive Kingdom.' said one of the guard bees. 'Our Queen rules this land.'

'Pleased to be here, I think.' replied one of the Toads.

The remaining Toads from Peach's castle looked around to see where they'd ended up. They seemed to be in a grassy area built on a large hill, incorporating quite a few trees and a beautiful waterfall. One of the Toads - with red-coloured dots - noticed that they were missing some of the others.

'Hey! Where are the others? Where's Pink, Green, and Luigi?!'

'I don't know, but hope they're alright.' said the Toad with blue spots and thick-rimmed glasses.

'Me too.' added Yellow.

Red began to think, 'I don't get it, surely we should have been transported together, not seperated like this.'

'I'm hungry.' moaned Yellow, who wasn't paying any attention to anything other than his angry stomach.

'Well, you should've eaten at the buffet!' snapped Blue.

Now that the Toads thought about it, they were pretty hungry. Red wandered towards one of the bees.

'Do you... bees... have anything to eat?' he asked.

'Of course.' replied the guard bee, 'Please allow us to take you to our Queen. You can be our honourable New Bees.'

The guard bee summoned three worker bees to take the Toads to the Queen. As they were lifted into the air, they noticed a strange looking plant in one of the flowerbeds. It had a large red head with white dots, and from what they could make out, it looked like it had a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. It couldn't be... Petey?

'What's that?' Blue asked, pointing towards it.

'We don't know.' answered one of the bees. 'They arrived not too long ago. One of our other workers went to investigate and that plant just ate him right there and then!'

_Yep, that's Petey alright,_ Red thought to himself. _Koopa's invading here as we speak._

Red tried to put it out of his mind as he and the other Toads were being carried towards to Queens castle. To call it a castle was a bit of an overstatement; it looked more like giant cone covered with honeycomb. As they approached the "castle", they could make out a considerably large bee sitting on top. This must be the Queen, they thought.

'Excuse me, Your Majesty!' called out one of the workers, 'We have guests who wish to dine. Shall we take them to the picnic area?'

'Certainly.' said the Queen in a friendly tone of voice. 'Make sure they are comfortable and deliver a bucket of honey to them.'

The Toads were carried back to one of the larger trees nearby. It had a circular wooden sitting area at the top. The worker bees gently lowered them onto the area.

'Please wait here.' one of the workers suggested. 'We'll be right back.'

Red looked around. 'It's not as if we can go anywhere.'

'I'll be glad when we get some food.' Yellow continued to moan.

On that note, a worker bee was seen heading towards them holding a bucket. The bucket had a thick, yellow liquid dripping from it, and it looked like it was quite heavy - mainly due to the strained look on the bee's face.

'Honey is heavy' he said.

The Toads tucked into their bucket of honey. They hadn't eaten anything since the buffet at the Star Festival. Yellow was the first to exhibit his appreciation for the meal with a loud, unashamed burp.

Red sneered at him. 'Disgusting!'

'What?!' said Yellow 'It's perfectly natural. Get over it!'

As the Toads were getting into their honey, a thought had suddenly occurred to Blue.

'That Power Star you've got.' he said to Red. 'What if we try to summon the others here. Then they can have some of this honey... and we'll be a group again.'

'Hmm...' Red thought, rubbing his forefinger and thumb against what would be a chin. 'I suppose it might be worth a shot. What should we do, hold the star and think of the others?'

Red got the Power Star out of his backpack and held it out in front of him. Blue also grabbed onto it, along with Yellow - who had to be prised away from the honey bucket. Each of them put the remaining party in their minds and started chanting (as best as Toads can). The Power Star lit up like a Christmas tree and started to hover from the Toads' grip. It spun around gently, emitting a beautiful, crystal-like hum. Suddenly, a bright light appeared beneath it and formed into the shape of a mushroom. Within about thirty-seconds it disappeared and in it's place was another Toad with pink-coloured spots.

'What the-! Where-?!' said a very confused Pink

'Well, there's _one_.' Red was still staring at the star. 'I don't think it's finished yet.'

Indeed it wasn't, as another ball of light emerged beneath it two minutes later, again shaped like a mushroom. Just like last time, the light disappeared leaving behind another Toad in it's place. Unlike last time, however, the star stopped spinning and lowered itself onto the ground.

'Is that it?!' hollered Red. 'What about Luigi, you stupid star?!'

'I don't think you want to upset the star, dude.' Blue pointed out. 'You don't want it to send you to Koopa's castle.'

Red couldn't help but feel that Blue had a point. So it was just the five Toads; Pink, Red, Blue, Yellow and Green, but no Luigi. What could've happened to him? Maybe HE got sent to Koopa's castle by mistake! The thought was quite horrifying, so the Toads tried to put it out of their minds and, instead, concentrated on their honey.

It had been an hour since the Toads had finished their meal. Yellow felt quite drowsy afterwards and decided to have a nap on the fence. Pink, on the other hand, became quite hyperactive and was dancing all over the place.

'Can't you sit still for a minute?!' yelled Green. 'You're making me dizzy!'

'Sorry, but I can't help it.'

Red was staring at the sky for no particular reason when he spotted something heading towards them.

'Err, guys!' he called. 'I don't want to worry you but...'

But the Toads were already worried. Whatever was coming towards them was not going to show any signs of stopping. They hoped and prayed that it wasn't Kamek; Green and Pink had already told them about his stalking. What made things worse was the fact that they were all still on the treetop with no way of getting down.

It was too late. The object landed right in front of them with a loud thud! To the Toads' delight, it wasn't Kamek, but rather a plumber with a large moustache and a red cap.

'Oh, wow! It's Mario!' Red cried with happiness. 'We escaped from Peach's Castle too! But then we thought Koopa would get us, and then we got lost with Luigi. Oh! I just remembered! We found a Power Star! I'm sure you need this, so here, take it. '

With that, Red took the Power Star out of his backpack and handed it to Mario.

'Take this Power Star!' he said.

The star shone it's beautiful brilliance once more as it teleported Mario and the Toads from the Honeyhive galaxy.


	6. Rosalina's Home Part I

Chapter 6

Rosalina's Home - Part I

The Toads were the first to arrive onto the Comet Observatory, the home of Rosalina and her Lumas. It didn't look like any observatory they'd been in before. It had a general upturned-cone shape with several paths either sticking out from it or rotating around it. In front of them was a small glowing orb. It didn't glow very well, about the same as a dying sun, but it was enough for them to see their immediate surroundings. They couldn't see anything on their right, due to the orb not being able to light up that area, but to their left, there was a generous lawn with a few flowerbeds, what looked like an empty garage to the west of it, and a waterfall to the north.

"Welcome to my home." greeted Rosalina. "This is where I live with the Lumas. They are very special to me."

"Pleased to meet you." said Red, extending his hand.

"Please tell me, what brings you here?" asked the black Elder Luma that was hovering beside Rosalina.

"We were brought here by the Power Star. Mario should be here as well."

"Mario?"

"The short guy with the 'tache."

"Ah! So, that's his name." beamed Rosalina. "Mario..."

She said the name to herself a few times.

"Hey!" called out Blue, breaking Rosalina's concentration. "We'd like to help out Mario, but I don't think we have the capabilities to do so. I think what we need is some kind of spaceship."

"That's a good idea." she said. "Why don't I have some of my best Lumas build you one. If you can help Mario with his search for the Power Stars and find his special one..."

"Yay! I'm sure we'll do our best."

The Lumas led the Toads along to the garage and started to prepare the construction of their spaceship.

"What'll be the best shape for it?" asked one Luma to the other.

"Their heads?" the other replied

"Perfect."

As the Toads waited patiently, taking in their new surroundings, a speck of light flickered in the sky, and from it, a Power Star rushed towards the centre of the ground floor. The star was carrying Mario on his way back from the Honeyhive Kingdom. As he landed on the observatory, he was greeted by Rosalina, who was still saying his name to herself.

"Mario?" she said happily. "You're name is Mario, isn't it? That is what I heard from your friends who just arrived. Mario... it has such a nice ring."

As she still mused over his name, Rosalina remembered about the Toads' spaceship. "Your friends are waiting for you in the garage. I think they want to tell you something, so you'd best hurry on over there."

Mario hurried over to the garage, but stopped halfway to speak with Pink, who was now wearing a satchel for some reason.

"Howdy, Mario! If you're looking for everybody, they're back this way!" Pink pointed towards the rest of the party.

The only Toad that wasn't in the garage, besides Pink, was Yellow, who was sitting in one of the flowerbeds. He wore a sad expression on his face. Mario went over to try to comfort the poor mushroom.

"Where are we? I want to go home." he cried. "I'm so homesick."

Mario assured Yellow that everything was going to be fine. This brought something of a smile on Yellow's face. The plumber headed towards the garage. As he arrived, he could see that there were a couple of Lumas building what looked like the base of something. Red got his attention.

"Mario!" he called out. "Somehow we made it too! We'll help you get the Power Stars and save Princess Peach! You can count on us, Mario! We're all in this together. Leave it to us!"

Green took Mario over to where the Lumas were working.

"The Lumas are going to build us a ship! When it's done, let's go look for Princess Peach and the Power Stars! What kind of starship will it be? Augh! I can't wait!"

Mario left the Toads in the Lumas capable hands and started to make way for the next galaxy when he was stopped by Blue. Blue didn't seem too comfortable with this current situation. Almost as if he was suspicious about something.

"So I guess this place is some kind of mobile observatory controlled by that Rosalina lady." he said. "But who exactly is she, anyway? She's not a... witch? Is she?! IS SHE?! Noooo... that's ridiculous. Right?"

_Right_, thought Mario. He patted Blue on his cap and headed towards the Terrace, which was one of the only observatory domes that was currently operational. Mario could use these domes to visit far away galaxies, and he was about to visit another.


	7. Peach's Castle

Chapter 7

Peach's Castle

Peach walked up and down in her room that was doubling as her prison cell. Her castle was full of Koopa's guards, so she really couldn't venture anywhere outside of the room. Her situation reminded her of when Koopa had stolen the Star Rod from Star Haven; Peach was holding a party for the Mushroom Kingdom and had invited both Mario brothers to attend, but things got ugly when her castle was literally raised from the ground by Koopa's own castle. As a result, Peach became a prisoner in her own home, much like now. Mario tried his best to stop Koopa but, thanks to the power of the Star Rod, he was defeated and cast from Peach's home. Peach hoped, like that time, Mario would eventually return, rescue her and put an end to Koopa's terror.

She heard a knock at the window, and proceeded to investigate... with caution

_What could possibly be knocking on my window, _she thought.

As she opened it, something flew past her with speed, nearly causing her to fall to the ground. Peach turned to see the Luma she sent to help Mario flying around in the middle of the room.

'What are _you_ doing here?' she asked, surprised.

'I've returned to inform you of Mario.' replied the Luma.

'Mario?! What's happened to him?!'

'It's okay, Your Highness, he's fine. I found him on a small planet, far away from here. He met with Mama and is searching for Power Stars so they can fully power the Comet Observatory and come to your aid.'

The Luma explained to Peach about Rosalina and their home.

'I see.' said Peach. 'So Koopa is taking me to the centre of the _Universe_!'

'Yes.' confirmed the Luma. 'And the only way for them to reach you is to collect enough Power Stars.'

Peach wandered over to the open window and looked into the emptiness of Space. She let out a sigh.

'If only there was something I could do to help Mario.'

Almost as soon as she said this, an idea sprung to her mind. Peach went over to the corner of the room and opened a trunk that was sitting there, and pulled out a sheet of paper, a pen and a small box. She sat down at her desk and started to write something. The Luma hovered where it was, wondering what the princess had in mind. Once Peach had finished the letter, she sealed it inside a royal envelope and placed it onto the desk. She picked up the box and opened it. In her hands were five over-sized mushrooms with green spots.

'Can you get these to Mario?' asked Peach, turning to the Luma. 'It's just a letter and some 1-Up mushrooms. I'd like him to know that I'm alright.'

'Of course, Your Highness.' the Luma agreed happily. 'There's a band of Toads that escaped from Koopa's castle at some point during the invasion. I'm sure that if I can't find Mario, one of them will.'

Peach suddenly remembered that there were indeed some Toads in the castle. She also remembered that Luigi was amongst them. She hoped he was okay.

The Luma flew out of the castle window and headed for the Comet Observatory. Peach looked on, praying for everyone else's safety. And for a moment, she also thought about Twink.


	8. Rosalina's Home Part II

Chapter 8

Rosalina's Home - Part II

The Toads jumped up and down with much excitement; the Lumas had finished building their Starshroom fleet. It was made up of three ships: a large red ship for carrying the whole brigade and two smaller ones (yellow and green respectively) for two or three members.

'This is great!' exclaimed Red. 'Now we can help Mario find the Power Stars and rescue the princess.'

'We have a ship. Now we need a name.' said Blue.

They toyed with a few suggestions for a little while. Names such as "The Power Toads", "The Super Toad Team" or "The Mighty Mighty Toad Investigation Squad" were dismissed as quickly as they were thought of. In the end, it would be Yellow's name that would be chosen; if only because it was short and sweet, and Yellow wasn't even bothering to try.

'So be it.' announced Red. 'We will be known as "The Toad Brigade". I still like the idea of "The Mighty Mighty Toad Investigation Squad" though.'

At that point, there was the now familiar sight of an incoming Power Star as it made its way into view and, as always, it was carrying Mario to the observatory. Pink, who was wandering around the lawn area, called out to him.

'Hi there, Mario!' he shouted. 'Our buddies in the Garage want to tell you something!'

Mario headed over to the Garage, passing Yellow, who was still feeling homesick. Red couldn't wait to get Mario's attention to the point where he was jumping up and down like a small child in a large toy shop.

'We've finished building the Starshroom starship.' he told Mario excitedly. 'We'll use it to search for Power Stars! And we, the members of the Toad Brigade, will be the brave crew! And this brigade needs a bold leader, so I nominate... um... well... me! Under my command, the galaxies will see the bravery of the Toad Brigade!'

The other Toads had serious doubts as to whether Red really should be their captain, as he didn't seem to be one for getting into the thick of things. They hoped they were wrong.

Green had been supervising the Lumas whilst they were building the Starshrooms, and he was quite pleased with how they came out.

_A mushroom starship that looks just like us._

He couldn't get over the apparent genius of the Lumas design. If the truth were known, the Lumas felt under a little pressure to attempt to please these odd-looking creatures (what beings have mushrooms for heads?), so they were more than happy when the Toads expressed their delight. Green had finalised the preparations to the red ship. He went inside it and pushed a few buttons. The ship shone a bright light through its windows. It gained the others' attention, including Mario's.

'The Starshroom is fully operational!' he called out of one of the windows. 'Hop in everybody!'

'Okay then.' said Captain Red. 'I guess it's time.'

One by one the Toads entered the ship. The door closed behind them with a satisfying clang. Red leaned out of the window and shouted to Mario.

'See you around the galaxies!'

The Starshroom hovered up off of the Garage's floor and with a powerful boost, made its way into the depths of space. Where they would end up was anybody's guess.


	9. Sweet Sweet Galaxy

Chapter 9

Sweet Sweet Galaxy

The Starshroom sailed across the bright, blue sky of the nearby planet. Not long after they left the observatory, the Toads witnessed a small explosion that resulted in the birth of a new galaxy. After much discussion, they decided to investigate this and found themselves drawn towards this planet. They flew towards a section of the planet and found that it had an unusual structure; it seemed to be made entirely out of sweets, biscuits and cakes!

They landed the Starshroom on a small-ish platform and disembarked.

'Wow!' cried the Captain. 'Look at this place!'

'Look at all that cake.' said Yellow, only really paying half-attention. 'I like cake.'

'Can't you think with else other than your stomach?' asked Green, somewhat annoyed. 'You had half a bucket of honey not long ago. You remind me of that Shy Guy back in Toad Town.'

Yellow wasn't really listening too much, as he was overwhelmed by their surroundings and had proceeded to eat the planet of all its cake. This particular section they were in was mainly made up of sugar-coated biscuit platforms and sponge cake walls, which Yellow was tucking into. There was a path in front of them (made of biscuit, of course), but it was dotted with holes of varying shapes and sizes and, to make things worse, was moving towards them in a similar fashion to a conveyor belt.

'I think some of us should go on ahead.' suggested the captain. 'We can carry out the investigation in double-quick time. Yes, that would be good.'

Yeah, you would think that. a cynical Blue thought to himself. Anything to get out of work.

'Blue! You stay here with Green whilst Pink, Yellow - Yellow! Put down that candy cane! - and myself will travel further on in the Toadship.'

It's called the "Starshroom"!

Captain Red, Pink and Yellow (who had to be forced away from the cake walls) re-embarked onto the Starshroom and set on further down the biscuit path, leaving only Green and Blue behind to investigate on foot.

'Sooo...' Green said out loud. 'How are we going to get across this path? I don't like how deep that drop is.'

'We'll definitely have to keep our footing, that's for sure.' suggested Blue. 'But let's not take it too fast, lest we fall to our splattery demise.'

So the Toads began to manoeuvre onto the conveyer belt-like path. They held each other's hands just in case one of them did fall through the holes. Weaving between each hole wasn't easy for a species with no legs, and the Toads were certainly having a tough time of it. To make things worse for them, there were some weird electricity barriers in a few places obstructing their progress.

'I can't believe the captain!' yelled Blue, who nearly slipped through a star-shaped gap. 'Leaving us here to struggle whilst he flies off with the other two. If we make it through this I'm going to give him a piece of my mind.'

After a good deal of time had passed when they finally made it to the other side. Blue collapsed onto the path and started to regain his composure.

'I can't go any farther.' he said. 'Let's just stay here a while. My feet are killing me.'

Meanwhile, the Starshroom landed by an area not too far away from where Blue and Green had ended up. In fact, if Blue or Green looked around the corner, they would be able to see the ship with reasonable clarity. Pink and Yellow got off while the captain remained on board.

'I'll keep her afloat in case we need to get out of here quickly. We don't fancy another visit from that horrible magikoopa.'

Pink and Yellow found themselves on what seemed to be a small platform made from wafer biscuit. To the south was a series of other platforms moving in the same fashion as the one they'd encountered earlier (well, to say they'd encountered it was stretching the truth), and they too were made up of sugar-coated biscuit. To the north was an upright structure which was actually a massive three-tier sponge cake, coated with three different icings.

'CAAAAAAAAKE!' hollered an excited Yellow as he rushed towards it. Leaping onto the second tier, he grabbed a handful of icing and ate it.

'Mint chocolate!' he shrieked. 'I LOOOVE mint chocolate!'

Pink decided to leave Yellow to his cake indulgence and proceeded to investigate the area. He climbed the sponge cake with great difficulty, and the icing wasn't making it easier for him.

'Oh!' he sighed. 'Who'd be a Toad? Yellow! You could always give me a hand!'

'What?' said the Toad with a mouthful of cake.

'Nevermind. Go back to your cake!'

Pink finally made it onto the mint chocolate flavour tier. The third one didn't look like it was going to be any different, but this didn't stop him from attempting it. Climbing upon an unsuspecting Yellow, Pink managed to ascend to the top of the sponge cake without too much hassle, although because of the additional weight, Yellow now found himself with a faceful of mint chocolate icing. To his amazement, Pink found himself face-to-face with something familiar, and it shone a such a brilliant light that it sent him falling back down onto the wafer platform.

At the other end of the moving platforms, Pink could make out another familiar sight. It was red and blue and was leaping towards them with amazing success.

'Wa-hoo-HOOO!' said Mario, who had somersaulted through the air and landed on the wafer.

Pink could hardly contain his excitement and started jumping up and down. He also couldn't wait to tell Mario what he'd just found.

'We got a Power Star!' he said and pointed to the top of the sponge cake.

At that point, a loud horn pierced through the air and a voice was heard.

'Hey! We're going back!' yelled the captain from the top of the Starshroom.

Captain Red began to fly the ship towards the sponge. As he approached it, he witnessed Mario take possession of the Power Star and subsequently fly away with it. Red activated the main hatch to allow Pink and Yellow in. Red took one look at Yellow.

'What's that on your face?' he asked

'Don't ask!' answered Pink in Yellow's stead. 'Let's just get the other two and go.'

With that in mind, the Starshroom hovered over the moving platforms and around the corner to where Blue and Green were still resting. A rope ladder was lowered from the ship and both the Toads made it back on board.

'You rotten swine, you!' came a furious Blue. He pointed his finger towards the captain, but the captain didn't really sense anything amiss.

'No time for all these fun and games.' he said. 'We need to get back.'

The Starshroom raised further into the sky and made leave for the Observatory.


	10. Rosalina's Home Part III

Chapter 10

Rosalina's Home - Part III

The Toads made their triumphant return from their first mission. The Starshroom touched down onto the Garage and after a couple of minutes, its hatch opened. One by one they exited the ship and gathered round in a small group, save for Yellow and Pink who wandered towards the same garden area that they were in before they'd set off.

'What a glorious mission!' beamed Red. 'Highly successful, first rate and exciting to boot!'

'For you maybe.' snorted Blue. 'You spent the entire time in the Starshroom.'

'Well, someone had to keep an eye out. We can't be having an ambush from that 'orrible Kamek now, can we?'

_Whatever!_

Pink looked on over and watched the captain and Blue arguing, he decided to keep out of it. He dug into his satchel and took out a piece of cake that he brought back from Rocky Road in Sweet Sweet Galaxy.

'Oooh!' came Yellow. 'Can I have some?!'

'No!' replied Pink. 'I think you've had more than enough cake for one day. Don't you?'

'Oh...! I like cake.'

Yellow stamped his little foot in childish frustration, sat on the grass and started to sulk. He missed home. He had a nice little house back in Toad Town. It wasn't much (most houses in Toad Town never were) but it was his and it was all he needed.

Pink was about to take a bite of his cake when he noticed a twinkling in the sky. Naturally assuming it was Mario on return from Rocky Road, he didn't pay much attention. However, it wasn't Mario... it was the Luma coming back from Peach's castle. It stopped in front of Rosalina and pulled out the envelope.

'Is Mario here?' the Luma asked. 'I have a letter from Princess Peach for him.'

'I'm afraid he's not at the moment...' said Rosalina.

The Luma looked sad. It couldn't even tell how far it had travelled from the castle to the Observatory. Now that it had made it back, it was about to feel as though it was a wasted effort.

'I'll give it to him!' called out Pink. 'I can just put it in my bag until he gets back!'

'Well, well...' said the Elder Luma. 'What a kind gesture!'

'Thank you so much.' the Luma cheered. 'There are some mushrooms inside the envelope as well. Please make sure he gets them.'

'No problems.' said Pink. 'I can be like a mailtoad, yeah, that's it.'

The Luma turned towards Rosalina.

'I'm going to return to the princess to see if there's anything else I can do for her.' it said.

'Then I will wish upon the stars for your safety, young Luma.' said Rosalina.

The Luma spun around in apparent happiness and flew away from the Observatory into Deep Space, knowing it had the stars protecting it.

Moments after the Luma had left, another twinkle was spotted... _this _time it was Mario. He landed near the centre of the observatory with yet another Power Star in his possession. Pink was excited to see Mario and started making noises to attract his attention. It worked, as the plumber headed towards him.

'Mr. Maaario!' he shouted. 'Check it out. I'm a mailtoad! And I have a letter for you!'

Pink handed the envelope to Mario. He began to read the letter and noticed that it didn't look right:

_Dear Mario:_

_Please come to the castle. I have baked a cake for you._

_Yours truly - - Princess Toadstool. _

_'Peach'_

'Oops!' said Pink. 'That's the wrong letter... how'd that get there anyway? Here it is.'

Pink hoped he'd handed the right letter this time. Mario's eyes scrolled across the letter with intent. It looked like it was the right one:

_Dear Mario,_

_I'm in a faraway place. But I'm all right because you're coming to rescue me!_

_P.S. I hope this gift will come in handy._

_From Peach_

'She included five 1-Up Mushrooms in her letter. Would you like them now?' asked Pink

'Oh yes.' replied Mario

Pink handed the mushrooms over to Mario, who reacted to the power of the 1-Up Mushrooms and now felt stronger.

'Aw... Even when she's kidnapped, the Princess is so thoughtful!' said Pink. 'I hope she's okay.'

As Mario was getting ready to set off in search for another Star, he was approached by the Elder Luma.

'We have discovered the enemy's forward base!' he worringly said. 'I have a really bad feeling about this.'

This could have only meant that Koopa was nearby. Mario headed towards the Terrace and leapt into the launch star.


	11. Koopa Jr's Robot Reactor

Chapter 11

Koopa Jr.'s Robot Reactor

As Mario catapulted through Space, he could make out that he was heading towards a couple of small moons. One of them looked like the hollow sphere's he was now getting used to, whilst the other had some weird kind of contraption sitting on it, almost as if it was waiting for something.

He landed on the hollow moon. Eveything was quiet... too quiet. Heading in a northernly direction, Mario noticed a launch star trapped inside a dome-shaped cage. Behind the cage were a couple of armoured Goombas (traitors to the Mushroom Kingdom, they are mushroom-shaped creatures with only feet and no arms). The guards rushed over to bash Mario with their headgear, but they were easily out-manouvered by a couple of very simple jumps to their heads. However this did not have the usual effect, as Goombas didn't normally wear head-armour. Mario decided to see if spinning them would work. They approached him yet again with their heads thrust forward and both of them were met by the force of Mario's spinning fists. The Goombas toppled over quickly and wiggled their feet about in a vain attempt to stand upright... it was almost as funny as watching a Koopa Troopa fall onto the back of its shell.

After dispatching the Goombas, Mario continued to explore the moon... until he came across a Bullet Bill blaster. Much like his experience in Good Egg Galaxy, the blasters fired a homing Bill towards him. Mario ran back the way he came. A thought occurred to him, if he could lure the Bullet Bill into the dome-cage, maybe it'll be destroyed. Mario ran with just a short distance between him and the large bullet, but it was enough for him to suddenly turn at a right-angle and cause Bill to fly straight into the dome. The dome and Bill exploded in a fantastic display of light, fire and debris, leaving the launch star to float freely again.

Mario leapt into the star and flew towards the larger of the two moons. As he landed, he was immediately greeted by a small Koopa airship. Dancing atop of it was one of Koopa's children, Koopa Jr..

'Wahahaha! You made it!' he chuckled. 'But I won't even need my dad's help to take care of you! Go at him Megaleg! Stomp him with the power of your Grand Star!'

And with that, Koopa Jr. flew away on the ship leaving Mario to deal with the weird contraption which was now named as Megaleg. It was spider-like in appearance, but it only had three legs, and was about fifty feet tall!

Megaleg headed towards Mario and attempted to squash him under its huge feet. Not wanting to become linguine anytime soon, Mario ran up one of Megaleg's legs. Just as he was running up it, a loud alarm sounded and he was attacked by more Bullet Bills.

_Ah! Will there never be an end-a to these-a Bullet Bills-eh?! _he thought.

After making light work of the bullets, he headed further up the large leg until he reach its head. Once again, Mario was ambushed by another set of Bullet Bills.

'Ah! Mamma-mia!' he cursed.

At the very top of Megaleg's head was another dome-cage, which was holding the Grand Star, but that itself was surrounded by a wire fence.

'Not-a problem! It's-a like cooking pasta!'

Mario headed towards the fence with a Bullet Bill on his tail and performed the usual trick. The fence was destroyed in one shot... but it wasn't over yet. The explosion had triggered another alarm and the dome-cage was surrounded by another wire fence, and this one was rotating around it. Mario lured another Bullet Bill towards the fence, but it only destroyed a section of it. And with it rotating, this was going to be difficult. He tried in vain to lure the bullets in, but they either homed into each other or the destroyed sections were quickly replaced.

There was only one thing for it; he had to jump over the fence.

Mario stood at the base of the head, near to the top of one of the legs, and ran towards the top. As expected, a Bullet Bill was following him. He jumped, leapt and then hurled himself over the wire fence. The bullet came crashing down into the dome-cage and destroyed it with a mighty expolsion, freeing the Grand Star. This caused Megaleg to overheat and shut down before exploding itself.

Mario was battered and exhusted after the battle. He took the Grand Star and headed back to the Observatory.


	12. Rosalina's Home Part IV

Chapter 12

Rosalina's Home - Part IV

The Grand Star brought Mario safely back to the Observatory. It landed in front of the glowing orb and darted straight into it. The orb reacted to the impact and expanded marginally, along with changing from dark orange to bright yellow. With this new change in the orb's birghtness, a new part of the Observatory grounds was illuminated. Another dome northwest from the Terrace was now in view. It looked like it was half-dome, half-fountain.

'That ball of flame repersents the power of the observatory.' Rosalina addressed Mario. 'We call it the "beacon". When you recover a Grand Star, a little Star Power will be restored, and the beacon will grow. The Comet Observatory can use that power to fly through the universe. Once all of the power is restored, we will be able to fly to the centre of the universe.'

'Oh! The power is on in a new dome!' said the Elder Luma, happily. 'The newly opened dome is called the "Fountain". It's really quite relaxing.'

'It looks like your friends are going to give you a hand.' continued Rosalina, referring to the Toads.

Mario headed over to the Garage. He stopped en route to see if Pink had any more letters from Peach.

'Not too many letters lately.' Pink said. 'But I won't give up.'

As Pink told him this, Mario noticed that Yellow seemed a bit happier than before.

'Hey, Mario!' Yellow chirruped. 'We're gonna do our best to find the Power Stars! Grrrrr! I'm good to go!'

'That's the spirit, mushroom man!' cheered a nearby Luma.

The Toads were preparing the Starshroom for another mission. After much disscussion, they had decided to do another group mission. Blue spotted Mario heading his way and beckoned him over.

'You got a Grand Star from Bowser Jr.'s robot?!' he said. 'So that means Bowser and Rosalina are enemies. Well, we have to help Rosalina and find out where Bowser is hiding!'

Green popped his head out from one of the ship's windows and called to the others.

'Right everybody, the Starshroom is ready.' he shouted. 'We've spotted a new galaxy and I for one would like to explore it. Let's just say it looks... interesting.'

'Righty-ho then.' said Red. 'Perhaps we'll find another Power Star. We're getting good at this. Don't you worry Mario, with us at your side, things will be all right.

_Pfft! _thought an ever-cynical Blue. _Like you'll make all the difference!_

The Toads boarded the Starshroom and set off for the new Galaxy. Mario did likewise via the Fountian.


	13. The Return of Luigi

Chapter 13

Ghostly Galaxy - The Return of Luigi

It was a dark and gloomy evening in this part of the galaxy... but then again, it was _always_ dark and gloomy. The sky was filled with onimous clouds that looked more like tortured souls and there was a cold chill running through air. There was a large mansion in this area and it was home to all kinds of spooky creatures; mainly the shy, mischievious ghosts known as Boos and the Big Boo. It was a particularly quiet evening for the Boos of the mansion. They hadn't had anyone to scare for a very long time... but that was about to change.

On a balcony that ran along the first floor of the mansion, a bright ball of light materialised in mid-air and remained for about thirty seconds before vanishing. In its place was a slender fellow dressed in green overalls and cap. He examined his new surroundings.

'Toads!' Luigi called. 'Where are the Toads?!'

He waited for a few minutes before realising that he was alone. Alone in a very frightening place. Luigi started to have flashbacks. He remembered when he, Mario and Toad (a loyal servant of Princess Peach that actually goes by the species' name) were involved in another mansion incident. It was with the help of that mansion's resident Professor E. Gadd that they were able to escape.

Luigi was starting to have a bad feeling about this whole situation. Somehow, he felt that the professor's ghost-sucking vaccum cleaner, the 'Poltergust 3000', would probably come in handy again. He still had the Game Boy Horror, though (it was designed by the professor as a multifunctional communicator). Luigi pulled it out of his pocket and used it to scan the exterior of the mansion, hoping to acquire a map of the whole house. The Game Boy Horror blipped and blopped for a couple of minutes before providing Luigi with the necessary feedback.

He wandered along the short balcony and opened the nearby door. Upon entering the mansion, Luigi was immediately greeted by some Boos. The Game Boy Horror somehow failed to inform him of the ghosts, then again, the machine was already seven-years-old. The Boos took full advantage of their, long-overdue, newest victim by chasing him all over the hall. The normally-shy spectres were having the time of their life. Luigi's heart was pounding as he ran around the hall, trying to escape the ghosts. He ran along a corridor and came to another hall; this one didn't appear to be so bad as the last, as there was only a painting of a Boo on the wall, next to a small area in the corner closed off with intersected bars. The laughter of the other Boos could be heard clearly as they followed the plumber down the corridor. Luigi needed to hide, but where? He looked through the bars into the empty area; if he could somehow hide in there, perhaps the Boos won't see him.

There was a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see that he was face-to-face with another Boo. He noticed that the painting was now just a blue canvas; the Boo was posing as a picture in it. Luigi ran down the hall as fast as he could, but it was too fast as he ran into the other Boos that were coming down the corridor. The three ghosts surrounded and trapped the frightened Luigi in the middle of the room. They poked and prodded him all the while laughing and cackling. They hadn't had SOOO much fun in a very long time, and they didn't feel like stoppinga nytime soon. Just then, a giant Boo floated into the room; it was the Big Boo. The other Boos joined him as they started to move towards Luigi. Luigi backed away from the ghosts before tripping and falling on his backside. The bars that he'd seen just a few minutes ago slammed closed in front of him... he'd been lured into the small corner and was now trapped like a caged animal.

Luigi sat in the corner and thought about the irony; first it was Mario trapped in a mansion, now it was his turn. He shivered with fear. Would he ever get home? Would he ever eat his favourite pasta dish again? Will this wretched Game Boy Horror ever stop bleeping?!

'Wait...!' he suddenly thought out loud. 'The G.B.H. can-a send-a S.O.S. messages!'

Even though its batteries were running low, he opened the machine and fumbled around with it for a few minutes, then pointed it towards a window and pushed the 'A' button.

_S.O.S. MESSAGE SENT_

All Luigi had to do now was wait.


	14. Pull Star Path

Chapter 14

Space Junk Galaxy - Part I: Pull Star Path

The Toad Brigade were the first to arrive in the galaxy that Green thought was "interesting". Despite the Starshroom's scanner indicating that this was a galaxy, what the Toads were seeing certainly didn't look like any galaxy they'd been in before, or ever. Instead of the usual planets and mini-planets that they were used to, there was nothing but junk and debris just floating around.

The Toads pondered over whether it was worth staying in this region, as there were little or no interesting features at all... they couldn't even detect signs of a Power Star.

'Let's go, shall we...' suggested Red, already putting his hand on the ship's gearstick.

'I agree.' said Yellow. 'Can we go back to the sweetie galaxy?'

'Go and sit in the corner.' Red had told him. 'This is important stuff. We're not going back there.'

'I agree.' came Green. 'We need to help Mario find the Power Stars. And Luigi, we need to find him too.'

Blue looked up from the ship's scanner.

'Guys!' he called out. 'Something's just appeared on the radar.'

They gathered around the scanner's small screen to see what was happening. On the screen was a flashing blue dot; this indicated something alive was outside. The dot was slowly moving towards the centre of the screen. The Toads looked at each other... whatever it was, it was heading straight for them. Red climbed a ladder to the top of the Starshroom, opened the hatch and stuck his head outside. He couldn't see anything at first, but then something jabbed him hard on the head.

_Ow! That hurt! _he thought. _I'm gonna give you a piece of my mind!_

He turned round to give the perpetrator a good telling off, and found himself staring into a pair of thick-rimmed glasses. To his knowledge, only two beings had these kind of glasses, and since Blue was still in the ship it could only be one other...

'ARRGGGHHHH!' he screamed as he fell back into the Starshroom. 'It's Kamek! Get us outta here!'

The Magikoopa had found them!

The Starshroom was fired up to maximum speed and it bolted across the "galaxy" as fast as Green could make it, but the was no shaking Kamek off the top. They tried to swing the ship from side to side, but Kamek had a strong grip and didn't budge an inch. Finally, Blue thought of an idea. If they could somehow guide the ship so that they could _just _miss a piece of rock, it might knock the magikoopa off the roof. With this, they headed towards the nearest rock.

'Can you do it?' asked the captain.

'I hope so.' said Green, who was steering the ship.

The Starshroom was within one-hundred metres of the nearest rock. Sweat was running down Green's cap and onto his face. He knew that if this didn't go to plan they would end up either a ship with no roof or their unwanted guest would do god-knows-what to them. Fifty metres to go. Kamek was starting to have trouble keeping his balance on the ship's roof, especially as it was accelerating at an incredible speed. He decided to try to change his position.

What really went wrong was when he chose to stand up. Not many things can stay firmly in place when a giant meteorite smacks into the back of their head at 150mph. This had the desired effect the Toads were after, as it knocked Kamek clear off of the Starshroom's roof and out into Space.

'Get in!' yelled Red, excitedly

Green brought the Starshroom to a gradual halt and set it down on a platform.

'We need fuel.' he said. 'I'm sure we can use those Star bits floating around.'

'Excellent idea.' said Captain Red. 'One worthy of myself, I daresay. It should be a piece of cake now that that 'orrible Kamek is history.'

The Toads grabbed a fishing net each and wandered onto the platform (although, why they had fishing nets is probably something you wouldn't want to ask). Unlike the other pieces of junk floating around, this platform looked like it was purpose built. It was wholly metallic, square in shape and had a small raised centre on which the ship was parked. Right now, though, it looked like a dancing stage with the brigade jumping up and down trying to catch the falling Star Bits.

'Ooh, look at that!' shouted Red as he pointed to the sky.

Above the platform was one of the very frequent Sling Stars.

'There's a shortcut on top of the Starshroom!'

The others didn't really seem to take much notice, as they were far too busy gathering Star Bits for the ship. Unfortunately, it was due to their lack of spacial awareness that allowed a creature with a throbbing headache to creep up on them.

'Now I have you!' shrieked Kamek as he raised his wand. 'Wahahahahahahaha!'

The magikoopa let loose his usual fireballs towards the Toads. The first struck an unaware Pink dead-on and encased him in a block of crystal. The rest tried to head for the Starshroom, but one by one a very angry Kamek scored a hit on each and every one of them... with the exception of the captain, who had made it to the ship.

'I'm getting out of here!' he said to himself. 'But how can I leave my comrades?'

He didn't really have time to think about the answer, seeing as how fireballs were heading in his direction. Closing the hatch behind him, Red activated the Starshroom's controls and lifted it off the platform. He wasn't particularly skilled at flying spacecrafts but he was more than willing to give this a go, especially if it was a matter of life or death.

The Starshroom sped through the space debris with the cackling magikoopa in pursuit. Red wondered if it was a good idea to attempt to lure Kamek into another rock, but then he might not fool for that again. Red decided to go for it again. He manoeuvred the ship towards the nearest rock he could find and flew towards it at the fastest speed possible. This was, more or less, playing chicken with an asteroid, and Red wasn't feeling too confident. He looked into the rear-view screen and saw that Kamek was catching up rapidly. Looking up out of the window, he also saw the asteroid approaching faster than he had anticipated. The captain grabbed the controls and made a hard turn to the left... and just missed the rock.

Unfortunately, so did Kamek, but he turned to the right and found himself with a faceful of steel mushroom. He had hit the Starshroom with so much force that he couldn't tell the difference between the stars in the sky and the ones spinning around his head. Red took advantage of the wizard's concussion and headed back to the platform. On route, he spotted a series of broken platforms. He took a closer look and found at least five stationary silver stars. As the Starshroom got closer to one of the stars, a platform would suddenly piece itself together. Not wanting to be involved in some magical hullabaloo, and certain degree of paranoia setting in, Red steered away from the stars.

Red was within several hundred yards away from the platform when he noticed the familiar sight of the red and blue dressed plumber. Mario. He appeared to be smashing the crystals and freeing his fellow brigade members.

'H-huh? Where's the captain?' asked a confused Pink being freed from his crystal. 'Fled at the first sign of trouble again, eh?'

Mario had freed all the Toads and noticed that the one with red spots was missing. Just as he thought about this, a fanfare played from above. Mario looked up to see the Starshroom lowering itself just beneath the Sling Star. The hatch opened and Red popped out from it.

'Da-da-da-DAAAAAA! Mr.Maaario!' sang the captain. 'As the brave captain of the Toad Brigade, I've already discovered a shortcut to the Power Star!'

He pointed to the top of the ship. 'Take the Sling Star at the top of the Starshroom!'

Mario used the Starshroom's gravity to run to the top. He jumped into the Sling Star and was catapulted far away. The Toads glared at Red.

'What?' he asked. 'I was being chased by that Kamek. What am I supposed to do... stay and fight?'

'That wouldn't have been a bad idea!' said Blue

'It doesn't matter. I managed to deal with him in my own creative way, yup.'

'Yes, of course you didn't!'

'I don't need this! I bravely fight off that wretched magikoopa and I get chastised for my efforts!'

'Hey guys!' interupted Green. 'Let's not do this. We're a team, don't forget.'

'Yeah, man.' agreed Yellow. 'Let's go get summat to eat.'

And for once the Toads were inclined to agree with him. They boarded the Starshroom and headed for the Observatory.


	15. Kamella's Airship Attack

Chapter 15

Space Junk Galaxy - Part II: Kamella's Airship Attack

The Toad Brigade had left this galaxy for some time now, but that was enough time for a fleet of Koopa's airships to invade. It was only a small fleet made up of four ships, but it was more than enough to overwhelm the galaxy. On board one of the ships were two turtle-like beings wearing wizard's robes. The larger of the two was providing medical attention to the smaller one.

'It's yer own fault, y'know!' she claimed in a cackled tone. 'You shouldn't be so insistent in going after them shroom fellas!'

'I'm sorry, Miss Kamella.' said Kamek humbly, whilst having his head looked at. 'But I don't think we should let them out of our sight. It'd be wise not to underestimate them. Look what they did to _me_!'

Kamek pointed at the ever-growing lump on the front of his head.

'Don't you worry abaht that.' Kamella said. 'That can be sorted out in 'alf a mo.'

Kamella was a large magikoopa, almost three times the size of Kamek. Although he never mentioned it, he had a soft spot for the peculiar way she spoke... probably because she was from the east of the Mushroom Kingdom. She reached into her robe and pulled out a wand. It was quite a big wand that shone a brilliant white light on the end. It had to be a big wand, for it was housing a Power Star.

Kamella pointed the wand at Kamek and uttered an ancient spell.

_'Humanna-humanna-humanna-oooooh, I remooove this 'ere lump for yooooou...!'_

The Power Star fired a beautiful red beam towards Kamek's forehead. He felt the warmth of it along his face. Then he heard a squelching noise. He put his hand on his forehead and then inspected it.

'Oh, that's gross!' he cried as he looked at his hand. 'But it does feel better...'

At that point, a Koopa Troopa came up from below deck and gave Kamella an urgent look.

'We've a couple of ships on our radar, ma'am.' he said.

'A couple of ships, eh?' said Kamella. 'Let's 'ave a butcher's, then.'

They went down into the control room and looked at the large screen on the wall. There were two tiny dots slowing down to a stationary position.

'Make the preparations!' said Kamek

* * *

The Toads had detected the presence of a Power Star, which had led to their return to the galaxy. As well as the Starshroom, they'd also travelled in one of the smaller ships.

'_Starshroom calling yellow Smallshroom! Are you receiving?!_' barked Red on the smaller ship's radio.

'Loud and clear!' said Blue in response.

'_Excellent! These things work_.'

Red was occupying the Starshroom whilst the others were in the yellow Smallshroom. They had decided to investigate the airships that had arrived during their absence.

'D'you reckon the Power Star is on board one of those ships then?' asked Pink the Mailtoad

'It has to be.' said Green looking at the scanner. 'We're getting very strong signals, but as the ships are so close together, it's impossible to determine which one it's on.'

'_Well, I say let's split up the party!_' Red suggested through the radio. '_You guys go on ahead and search for the star. I need to stay behind and... erm... fix these nasty dents on the Starshroom. Yes.'_

'Surprise, surprise.' Blue said cynically. 'Let's leave him behind. He'll only slow us down.'

Green spoke into the radio. 'Okay, then. We're on our way.'

'Brave lads.' Red said to himself.

Pink, Blue, Yellow and Green made their way out of the Smallshroom. The two-ship fleet was parked a small distance away from the airships, but by chance, the Starshroom was directly beneath a Sling Star. One by one, the Toads launched themselves onto the nearest airship... or at least that was the plan. Instead the Sling Star sent Green and Blue onto the second ship, and Yellow and Mailtoad onto the third.

'Good job we got these walkie talkies.' said Yellow. 'Calling Blue and Green! Are you receiving?'

Yellow and Pink waited but there was no response. Hardly surprising, as the moment Green and Blue had landed, they were visited by an old friend and, subsequently, had been incased in crystal.

'I hope they haven't dropped their radios.' wondered Pink.

'Mmm. I'm sure they'll be fine. Come on, let's find that star. I'm getting a strong signal from that ship over there.'

The airship the Toads were currently on was connected to an adjacent one by a simple drawbridge. They were just about to set foot on the bridge when it was suddenly raised from under their feet by two octopus-like creatures on the other side. Pink nearly fell off.

'Nooo!' screamed Yellow. 'We were sooo close to getting that star!'

Just then, a large figure emerged from the other ship.

'Don't worry my dears...' Kamella cackled. 'You can 'ave it.'

She fired at the Toads. The blast sent them back onto the other side of the ship. Kamella didn't like this, she didn't like missing her targets. Panicked and with nowhere to go, Yellow and Pink ran all over the ship avoiding the female magikoopas shots.

'Gaarrgghh!' she shrieked. 'Stop movin' around, y'little tikes!'

Kamella charged her wand as much as she could and fired. The beam hit Pink dead-on, encasing him in crystal.

'Gotcha!' she yelled, triumphantly

Yellow stared at his fellow Toad in horror. He looked to see Kamella charging her wand again. He knew that if he didn't do something, he would end up as the soft centre of a boiled sweet. He turned around to grab the stray green shell that was lying in the middle of the ship when he found himself face-to-face with thick spectacles.

'Don't move.' warned Kamek, who'd just returned from the other ship and was now pointing his wand at the frightened Toad.

Yellow didn't move. In fact, he _couldn't_ move now.

* * *

Red looked at the Starshroom's clock. Why weren't the other Toads back yet? They'd been gone for an hour now. He started to ponder over a good way to rescue them when he heard footsteps coming from the yellow ship.

'It's that wretched Kamek again!' he said. 'Coming to get me while I'm all alone. Well, I'll sort him out for sure. Where's that cricket bat?'

After grabbing hold of the weapon, Red looked out of the window to see exactly where the magikoopa was. His eyes widened. It wasn't Kamek; it was Mario. The captain of the Toad Brigade leapt onto the top of the Starshroom and beckoned the plumber.

'Look, it's the enemy fleet, Mario!' he called. 'My brigade boarded the enemy fleet, and none have returned! As captain, I would go save them myself, but I'm much too busy at the moment.'

Mario lept into the Slingstar that was positioned above the Starshroom and hurled himself onto the first airship. Upon landing onto the ship, Mario began to feel like he was being led into a trap. All there was to guard this first ship were just two lowly Goombas, which he quickly disposed of. With the aid of another Slingstar, Mario boarded the second ship. This time he was going to have a small challenge on his hands; not only would he need to defeat the Goombas guarding the ship but he'd also need to free the Toads that were trapped here. Dispatching the Goombas, Mario proceeded to destroy the crystals holding the Toads.

'Hey!' Blue said. 'I bet you could hit the treasure chest with a shell.'

Sure enough, Mario picked up the green shell that had materialised in the centre of the ship and launched it towards the nearest chest. He was greeted with a colourful display of Star Bits... but that wasn't all he was suddenly greeted with. From out of thin air (in space?!), Kamek popped into being and immediately threw a fireball at Mario. He wasn't taking any chances, he was going to get rid of that pesky plumber and his annoying mushroom sidekicks. Mario dodged the fireballs with ease. He noticed that Kamek appeared to be guarding another treasure chest. With this in mind, Mario picked up another green shell and beckoned for the Toads to return to the Starshrooms, which they willingly obliged.

'Hahahahahaha!' cackled Kamek. 'Once I'm done with you, I'll make a nice mushroom soup out of your little friends! Oh it'll be glori-!'

That was the point when Mario had thrown the green shell into Kamek's face, knocking out the magikoopa.

Opening the treasure chest revealed another Slingstar, which Mario used to board the third ship. He landed on the highest balcony on the ship. From there he could see the last ship, which had purple carpeting laid on it. Was that the main ship? Was Koopa on board? The only way he was going to find out was to lower the drawbridge on that ship. Mario dropped down onto the main deck and landed on a Koopa Troopa. The impact forced it to pop out of its shell; Mario hadn't seen that happen for some time. The now exposed turtle ran as fast as he could into the lower decks of the ship, leaving Mario to shatter the crystals trapping the other Toads with no trouble at all.

'Stupid octopuses blocking my way!' hollered Pink towards the octopus guards on the other ship. 'I bet a few shells would take care of that little problem.'

With that, Mario picked up the empty shell and hurled it towards the other ship. The shell had smacked one octopus with such force that it fell off of the ship. Only one more to go, but this one wasn't going to take it lying down and began to spit fireballs towards Mario. The Toads could see that this was going to get messy and started to make their way back to the Starshroom.

'Yellow to base, Yellow to base.' he barked into his walkie talkie. 'Are you receiving?'

_'About time too!' _said Red on the radio. _'What have you been doing?'_

'We ran into a bit of a problem, but Mario was here to save the day. Do you know what's happened to the others?'

_'They've returned to the ship. We're just waiting for you guys.'_

'We're on our way. Out.'

As the Toads made their way back, Mario had defeated the octopus guards and boarded the last ship. He had to be careful here as there was a black hole directly beneath. He thought about sending the airship into the hole but decided that that was far too risky. As soon as he arrived onto the deck, a large figure materialised in front of him; it wasn't Koopa but rather a large magikoopa.

'Hehehehe!' shrieked Kamella, waved her wand about.

Mario could see that this wasn't going to be easy, as Kamella had no ordinary wand; it had a Power Star encased at the tip. She began firing at Mario, who leapt about most of the deck trying to avoid her fireballs. His normal attacks were simply shrugged off and caused him more harm than good. So, what then? How could he take her down. Almost as if the stars can hear his wishes, Kamella fired a green shell towards Mario. He stopped it in its tracks and returned it to its owner who caught it right in the face. However, this wasn't over. The injury Kamella sustained only served to anger her and, as a result, she called for Kamek's assistance. Now Mario had to contend with two of them, but felt like it wouldn't be a problem.

Kamek cast a fireball towards Mario, but the plumber dodged it and headed for the magikoopa, only to be met by a plume of smoke as Kamek disappeared from sight. Kamella fired another green shell at Mario but, as before, he caught. However, before he could throw the shell back, he felt a warm sensation on his backside. Mario launched into the air, screaming in pain; Kamek had reappeared behind him and cast another fireball, which scored a bullseye. This angered Mario as much as he angered Kamella and made a beeline for Kamek as soon as he landed back onto the deck. With a mighty swing, Mario landed a huge backhander across Kamek's head and sent him flying off of the ship and into the black hole. One down, one to go.

Kamella continued to throw fireballs at Mario. Some of them he was able to dodge but the rest were able to hit him. Mario began to lose hope of the situation when he remembered the green shell Kamella fired earlier. Getting from one side of the ship to the other would've been a walk in the park if it weren't for countless fireballs. And Mario thought his times in Koopa's castle were bad. He finally grabbed the green shell and blindly threw it in the direction he hoped Kamella was in.

It missed.

However, luck was on his side as she had just conjured up another shell at the same time. Mario caught the shell, and now the fire was clearing, he had a perfect shot of her. He threw the shell back and hit her square on the nose. She writhed in pain before exploding in a cloud of smoke, leaving behind her wand. The Power Star shattered its prison and hovered happily in front of Mario.

Mario got a Star!


	16. Tarantox's Tangled Web

Chapter 16

Space Junk Galaxy - Tarantox's Tangled Web

After much debate, the Toads decided that is was probably a good idea to remain in the area; they had detected the presence of another Power Star nearby and were getting ready to investigate.

'So there's definitely another star here?' asked Red

'No doubt about it.' Blue answered. 'Right there on that planet nearby.'

Green was standing by a scanner in the corner of the room, fumbling with numerous buttons and levers. The scanner started making repeated blips and blops.

'It seems like there's a massive life-form on that planet.' he said.

In the middle of the scanner was a giant white blob about half the size of the screen. Red had a worried expression on his face, something which Blue hoped would be taken advantage of.

'But it appears to be dormant.' Green continued.

Red's face relaxed whilst Blue's turned to disappointment. 'Excellent! With that... whatever it is asleep, getting the Power Star should be a piece of cake.'

'Did someone mention cake?' asked a daydreaming Yellow, his mind still on Sweet Sweet Galaxy.

'No!' replied Blue, bemused. 'Go back to sleep.'

The Toads prepared a strategy. If going onto this planet was as easy as the captain claimed it would, then a simple two-or-three-man (or Toad) team would suffice. After much deliberation, Red decided that Green and Pink should have the honour of this mission.

'What!' shrieked Green. 'Why just us two? Why can't you come along as well.'

'Well, I'd love to an' all, but...'

Red had to quickly think of a reason not to go. He couldn't say that he was scared, that'd just be silly, especially as he'd already declared the planet safe. No, he'd have to come up with something genius.

'...because... you guys are... the scout party.' he finally reasoned 'Yes, there is no doubt that the planet is safe, but we should still take every precaution possible. If any trouble does ensue, it'll be easier for two Toads, brave Toads I might add, to escape rather than a full deck.'

_ 'And you certainly ain't playing with one' _thought Blue

Green and Pink prepared themselves for the journey. Pink picked up his satchel and draped the strap across his shoulder. They exited the Starshroom and looked around. The planet the Star was on was to the north-east of the ship. Even though they'd had mixed results with it, both Toads used the Sling Star to reach the planet. Green was successful in reaching the planet, but Pink was fired off in the opposite direction.

'Oh, wonderful!' Green said aloud, as he was heading towards the planet.

Pink had flown some considerable distance before he finally landed. He could see that he was heading for a piece of random space rock. Needless to say, Pink was terrified of the potential outcome.

'Oh, goodness me! This is it! This is it!'

He cursed the captain as loud as he could. He swore that if he ever made it out of this alive, he was going to have some harsh words that no Toad should ever be heard saying. Fortunately, something soft broke his fall, although whatever he landed on was now wobbling violently.

'I'M GONNA BE SICK IF THIS THING DOESN'T STOP!'

Green didn't like the planet he landed on. As he approached it, he could see that he was headed for a small opening. Did the Sling Star intentionally launch him towards the hole? The Toad started wandering around the planet's interior, looking for any clues of the Power Star's presence. His handheld scanner started to beep repeatedly.

'It's here!' Green thought out loud.

He headed to the centre of the planet when he felt something sticky.

'Eww! What's this?' he moaned. 'I can't... I can't move!'

Just at that point, he saw a trio of large eyes glaring at him. Green tried in vain to free himself, but it was no good. Whatever he was stuck to had hold of him good.

Meanwhile, back at the Starshroom, Red was getting concerned. It'd been a while since Green and Pink started their search.

'Well, why don't you go and search for them!' said Blue, tonelessly.

'Gee, I would but I-'

The captain was suddenly cut off by a loud thud on top of the ship. A face peered inside from the top.

'A brave brigade Toad went to search for a Power Star.' Red told Mario, who was standing outside. 'He went off to the planet and hasn't been seen since! You think he's okay?'

Mario used the Sling Star to catapult himself onwards. He landed near the same area that Pink had landed on. He could see the mail Toad from where he landed, but he could also see some giant enemy spiders directly in front of him. Mario would have to destroy them if he was to rescue the mushroom man, who was humorously stuck to some web shaped like a tree. He ran forward and leapt into the air. Landing on the spider created such an impact that it allowed Mario to spring from that one onto the second, flattening them both. The third spider was child's play as Mario spun it into the depths of space.

'Help! I'm stuck! Pull me out!' cried Pink.

Mario held onto the web-tree, pulled as far back as he could and let go.

'Waa-hoo!' Pink yelled as he flew onto the nearest piece of space debris. 'Thanks!'

Pink decided that he'd had enough of this galaxy and made his way back to the Starshroom. Mario, on the other hand, decided to investigate the nearby planet. Using a series of web-trees, he finally landed inside. The force of his passing through the gap must have caused severe vibration throughout the planet as its face shattered, leaving one side of it exposed. This proved to be useful as it lit up the interior. Mario only had to look around for a few seconds before he found another Toad stuck on some web. Only this time it wasn't a web-tree; it was a giant spider's web

'EEK! I'll be eaten! Someone help me!'

Mario used the same method to free Green as did for Pink.

'EEEK, Mario! What IS this thing?' asked Green, pointing at the coccoon in the centre.

Mario had no idea, but about to find out. He grabbed a piece of the web and stretched it back towards him. He flew into the coccoon with such force that it shattered and woke up the giant spider that was inside. Tarantox, angered at the destruction of his coccoon, lashed out towards the plumber and started spitting poisonous green goo at him. Mario knew that a frontal attack would be dangerous, so he ran along the planet's walls until he was behind the spider. He grabbed some web and flung himself at Tarantox's backside. The spider flipped onto his back, exposing three spots on his belly. Mario wasted no time in launching himself onto each of those spots.

With the final strike, Tarantox fell through the back of the planet, leaving a Power Star where he once stood. Using its power, Mario sent Green back to the Starshroom and continued his adventure.


	17. Hurry Scurry Galaxy

Chapter 17

Hurry Scurry Galaxy

'I never wanna see another icky, sticky spider ever, ever again!'

Green was still shaky from his encounter with Tarantox. Yellow tried to calm his nerves by generously offering him some cake.

'Thanks, but you've had that since we were in that sweet and cake galaxy.' said Green, examining the sponge. 'It looks kinda stale now.'

'No, no, no.' argued Yellow. 'It's not stale; it's just maturing.'

He appeared to be comforting the cake as if Green had just insulted its dead parents.

'So, where to now?' called Red. 'After all that adventuring malarkey, I say we could do with a mini-holiday. After all, Mario's out there collecting Stars like no-one's business. I'm sure he won't mind if we took a quick breather. But it has to be quick though. The universe can't save itself from Koopa.'

_I wish you'd take a breather so we could save ourselves from you_. thought Blue. 'We did pick up a mild reading a little while ago. There appears to be a satellite powered by one of the Stars.'

'Mmm... interesting. Onwards! To the satellite!'

'I thought we were going to take a breather?' asked a puzzled Yellow.

'How long until we get to the satellite?' Red asked.

Green looked at the on-board scanner. 'About two hours.'.

'Excellent!'

The Starshroom finally arrived at the galaxy. There wasn't much here; just a small, hexagon-shaped planet.

'Are you sure that's where the Star is?' Blue asked as he stared in disbelief. 'I can't see anything there.'

'The readings are coming straight from it' answered Green. 'I think we should take as red that not every Star is going to be visible to the naked eye.'

'Take as me?' laughed Red. 'Oh-ho-ho. Sorry, just trying to bring some cheer. For once, it doesn't look like there's any danger here.'

'Ah, good.' Blue said to him. 'So, you'll come along this time?'

'Absolutely! Er, I mean, not that I wouldn't help out in times of danger... I just... y'know... what with the ship an' all...'

The Starshroom landed on a platform nearby. One by one, the Toads stepped out and had a good look around. There was another platform about fifty metres away and was connected by an unnecessarily crooked path. Koopa must've known about the Star's presence as there was a single Goomba sentry on the path.

'Oh, look.' Red said to the others. 'There's a guard. Looks like we can't pass.'

'There's only one!' responded Blue. 'I'm sure the four of us could take him on.'

'You're right.' agreed Red. 'But let me get that cricket bat from the ship. Back in a bit.'

Red ran back into the Starshroom. A little too quick, perhaps.

The Toad unanimously agreed that Red wasn't about to re-surface any time soon and proceeded to take on the Goomba themselves. Blue took the first step onto the path and, almost instantly, fell through it. He hung on for dear life. There was a black hole directly beneath him and he didn't feel like getting sucked into one today.

'HELP!' he yelled.

The other Toads grabbed his arms and pulled him to safety.

'I think we might need to take care on this floor.'

Far from being careful, Pink ran at full speed along the path as it disintegrated behind him. Even the Goomba was surprised to see a pink, mushroom-shaped blur whizz past him. He eventually reached the other platform.

'Come on!' he called to the others.

Yellow tried his luck. He put one foot on the first step and it vanished from beneath him. The Toad started to panic. He didn't want to die. He just wanted to get this over with so he could get back home and have some more cake. One more try, he thought. Taking a run-up, Yellow bolted across the path, trying his hardest not to look down or behind him. The Goomba set his sights on tackling Yellow, but was knocked to one side by the Toad that wasn't really looking where he was going. He joined Pink on the other platform and started shivering.

'I don't wanna to that again.' he cried.

'Hmm...' thought Blue. 'If that's what it's like just on this path, I dread to think what the satellite will be like. I think we should just wait for Mario.'

Blue didn't like it, but for once he thought it would better to follow in their cowardly captain's footsteps and not attempt this.

A few moments had passed when Blue looked into the sky and saw a blue light heading their way. The Toads were getting used to this sight now. They knew that Mario would likely drop in eventually. Not that they minded; they were helping him after all. Blue theorised that the Luma inside Mario probably acted as some sort of Star-detector, and knew where the Toads would be also. This was only a theory. It was probably just mere coincidence.

Mario landed on the platform in front of the Starshroom. Blue beckoned him over. He pointed towards the path leading to the other platform and the satellite.

'The floor falls away when you step on it!' he said. 'Be careful'

Mario examined the path and took a run-up. With a hop, step and jump, he made it to the other platform with minimal effort. He looked over to where Pink and Yellow were standing.

'I tried walking along the path.' Pink explained. 'But it started disappearing with every step I took.

'It's dangerous, I tell ya.' said a shivering Yellow.

As Mario went forth onto the satellite, Red fired up the Starshroom.

'Come on, you lot.' he barked into the ship's mic. 'We may as well get going.'

Blue boarded the ship as it lifted itself off the platform, as did the other two when it glided over to the other. With all four Toads safe inside, the ship headed back to the Observatory.


	18. Koopa's Star Reactor

Chapter 18

Koopa's Star Reactor

Shortly after retrieving the Star in Hurry Scurry Galaxy, Mario was informed by the Elder Luma of the next Grand Star's location. Mario made no hesitation in heading straight for the new area. He knew that, like last time, he probably wasn't going to be seeing the Toad Brigade here. This was going to be too dangerous for them; King Koopa wasn't one to mess about if his army was anything to go by.

Mario landed at the location. He was informed that it was a star reactor, but it looked far from it; it appeared to be a mash-mash of platforms going in random directions. On the spot where he landed, there was a single path spiralling upwards. A massive, but very short in length, green tunnel welcomed him like a torii gate, but the tunnel was more like the pipes that Mario had become accustomed to going down. To his surprise, there was Luma nearby.

'I can feel a Grand Star nearby!' said the Luma, "but this place is filled with all kinds of traps and tricks! Be careful!'

Mario heeded this advice and moved forward. He knew that it wasn't going to be a walk in the park. Much like any evil villain; if they could avoid a one-on-one confrontation, they'd snap at the chance. Mario's first obstacle was a pair of rotating fire-sticks prior to talking to the Luma, which was no mean feat for him, but he couldn't let his guard down. One slip-up and it would be game over for Mario. And it wasn't just Koopa's traps he had to be weary of; there were all the black holes littered about the area as well.

The plumber made his way up the spiral-path until he reached his first proper obstacle: a fire jet and a Thwomp. Thwomps were dangerous creatures if approached incorrectly. Giant stones with malevolent faces and intentions. One wrong move and SPLAT, he would become a Mario Sandwich. However, this wasn't really going to be an issue, as Thwomps generally had the speed of a zombie tortoise carrying a breeze-block. As soon as they rise back into the air, they'd be there for about five seconds before coming back down. All Mario had to was correctly time when the fire jet would briefly stop and the Thwomp would rise, then he could clear them both with one simple jump.

'Wa-hoo!' he shouted as he made it past the danger.

A platform was behind the Thwomp which, as it rose, flipped upside-down for anyone that stepped on it (although you could argue that it descends when you get half-way up... or down). Mario arrived at a curious section littered with arrows pointing north and south along the walls. The arrows pointing north were the most intriguing, as the south arrows were simply pointing towards the floor. He jumped in the direction of the north arrows and now found himself walking on the ceiling.

So, it seemed that anti-gravity was at play here, which explained why Mario didn't fall off the platform just now. He decided it was a good thing that he just to the ceiling as there was a black hole in the space in front of where he stood (which was now above his head). However, there was another black hole in front of where he was currently standing. Fortunately, a moving platform was nearby in the south arrow section near to where the first black hole was. After avoiding fire traps, another Thwomp whilst going up and down in gravity, Mario finally made it another platform which, like the last, spun as he stepped on it but, unlike the last, down turn him upside-down, but rather spun so he would have to walk sideways off onto the wall the platform stopped at. All this anti-gravity was making Mario's head hurt.

Mario finally made it onto level ground. He felt glad that his general upright stature wasn't facing south or east. In front of him was a giant stone staircase surrounding a single castle tower. The staircase was covered with numerous fire traps. Mario would have to use all of his cunning to escape unhurt. He took several steps back and with a hop, skip and a jump, made it over the flames... until one caught him on the backside.

'OWW!' he screamed in agony, 'HOT! HOT! OWW! OW-OW-OW-OW!'

After extinguishing the fire on his bottom, Mario carried on, until he heard a mighty crash. It was King Koopa. The mighty creature was on top of the tower and proceeded to spit flaming meteorites at Mario. Carefully dodging them one-by-one, Mario made his way up the remaining steps, but the meteorites were destroying each previous step, so if he slipped up, he'd be getting intimate with a black hole. Fortunately, Mario made it to the top of the tower, where the king greeted him.

'BWAHAHAHA!' Koopa bellowed, 'You finally made it!.

Mario gave Koopa a disapproving stare

'Just in time for me to stomp you into space bits!' the king concluded

With a mighty roar, both Mario and Koopa flipped upside-down onto a mini-planet above. Koopa stamped both his feet which send shock waves across the entire planet. Mario was used to this tactic and easily avoided each shock wave. However, a direct attack was apparently not going to be easy as Koopa was jumping all over the place. Mario noticed that the planet was entirely artificial and appeared to be made out of reinforced glass. In the centre of the planet was a magma flow in a criss-cross-style fashion. Where the magma reached the surface, there appeared to be glass caps preventing them from being exposed. Mario had an idea. He positioned himself on top of one of the caps and waited for Koopa to attempt to jump on him. Mario turned his back to make it look like he wasn't expecting it. Predictably, Koopa took a giant leap towards the plumber. He moved out of the way and watched the giant turtle crash into the glass, exposing the magma and burning his tail in the process.

'Ha-ha!' chortled Mario, 'You you-a know how it-a feels!'

Koopa knew he was in trouble and started to run away from Mario, hopefully to buy some time for his tail to cool down. It didn't work, as Mario caught up and whacked him so hard that he landed on his shell. Koopa received another whack; this one was harder than the first and sent him spinning on his shell around the planet. With an almighty feat of strength, Mario hit him one more time and sent the king back down to the tower below.

'WHAT? HOW...' exclaimed a surprised Koopa as he stood from his fall, 'Foolish Mario... my plan is too far along now! You really think you can stop me?.

Koopa laughed and teleported out of sight, leaving a Grand Star behind. Mario got the Grand Star and headed back to the Observatory.


End file.
